Hellbound Spirits
by Gusty bv
Summary: I've been doing some reading up on the subject of earthbound spirits. Sometimes they don't always cross over from this world to the next depending on how they died or if they didn't get to finish something while they were alive."


Been planning this story for a little while now and I'm excited to finally get it off the ground X3. It's my first Silent Hill fan fic so, yay! Hope everyone enjoys it!

Silent Hill related content owned by Konami.

**EDIT**: Went and changed Carlene's name to Colleen.

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**Chapter 1 **

'_Cheeerylll…Chhherrrylll …'_

The blonde let off a distressed cry and woke with a start. _Just another nightmare_…she thought as heavy footsteps came thundering down the hall. Her bedroom door thrust open and Douglas walked in. His features were distraught.

"Everything okay in here," the detective asked, tone heavy with concern.

"Y-yeah, just another bad dream; I'm okay Douglas."

He frowned, "You don't sound alright."

"Really, it's nothing to worry about. I'll get over it."

"You sure about that, Cheryl; this has been going on the past week now and I'm starting to worry about you."

"Yes 'Dad' I'm sure. It's just some bad dreams, nothing I can't handle," her tone was serious.

"Alright, alright," he said hands up in defense, "If there's something bothering you though, come talk to me about it."

Cheryl nodded quietly as Douglas shut the door and headed back down the hall to his own room. When his door shut she sighed heavily and rubbed her forehead. If only they were just nightmares, if only they were just pictures produced by her unconscious mind while she slept. Though with what had happened in her past before, Cheryl knew these nightly occurrences were more than just simple nightmares.

Unable and unwilling to fall back asleep, she quietly slipped out of bed and headed down stairs. The twenty-one year old plopped down on the couch and turned the TV on, volume set low so as not to wake Douglas again. Flipping through the channels she found there wasn't really anything on at this hour. She finally settled for a rerun of some late night sitcom she knew nothing about.

It seemed like forever ago, when it had really only been four years since her father had been murdered by the crazed occult from Silent Hill looking for her. After having thrown a major wrench in their operations and putting an end to their so called 'God' once and for all (boy did that sound like a psychologists dream) Douglas had decided to adopt her seeing she had no where else to go. When she'd finished her last year of high school he'd helped her start on college. She was currently on summer break, working a part time job at The Happy Burger putting what little she made in tips towards her college fund. Still trying to seem normal, still trying to forget the horrible things she'd seen in the past and what she really was.

So far she'd been doing pretty well with that, up until this past week when the damn nightmares had started. No ideas as to their cause and they were too vague to determine their meaning. The only thing she could recall from them was a faint, ghostly image of what looked like her late adoptive father, Harry Mason. He was calling out her name in what sounded like a desperate plea for help.

"…_and so the guy says: I was frozen, today!_"

Cheryl chuckled absently at the line from the show before the feeling died away. She continued to half-heatedly watch the sitcom until she felt her eyes begin to droop. Blinking she rubbed them, but didn't feel anymore awake. Sighing she clicked the TV off and quietly went back to her room.

The dust from under her bed came forth in a great cloud and she coughed and sneezed as years past went sailing into her nostrils. When the air was clear again she reached back under the mattress and pulled out an old shoe box. She smiled at the objects that greeted her inside. The few mementos she had left of happier days with her father. A few photographs of them together in the park, a stuffed penguin he'd won for her at a street carnival, and the pendant he'd given her the day he changed her name to Heather. It'd saved her life before, forced the god of the occult from her body with the strange red crystal that had been inside.

Among the happier memories were ones that made her heart ache. Her father's last note to her that had been found after his death and the notes he had written in Silent Hill years before when she was but seven years of age. She had swiped them up and kept them ever since her return trip there. Looking them over now made her eyes over flow with tears again, fresh as the day she'd found her murdered father in their apartment. Cheryl calmed herself then put the notes back and shoved the box back where it had been.

The alarm clock on her night stand read 4:52 am and she groaned. Her shift at The Happy Burger started at 7:00 am and she was supposed to get up in seven minutes to get ready for work. Debating on whether or not to call in sick again she heard Douglas getting up again and shuffling downstairs to go make the morning coffee. Figuring she could slip a cat nap in during her break she sighed and headed to the bathroom to clean off the morning grim.

"Hello? This is Earth calling Commander Cheryl; did you get abducted by aliens again?"

There was a tapping on her head and she groaned and shooed the hand away, "I'm awake, I was just resting my eyes," protested the blonde.

"That's what you said the other day, darling," Colleen smirked, ruffling her friend's hair in a playful manner, "Better get moving your break ends in about…T-minus 10 seconds."

"It does? Shit, shit, shit!" Cheryl cursed wiping some drool off her cheek and fixing her hair before jumping back into the fray.

Colleen laughed as her friend scrambled to get back into the order of things, "And wash that mouth of yours out, you sound like a damn truck driver!"

The two girls punched their time cards out and sighed with relief. The Happy Burger had been busier then usually today and they'd both been busting their asses off all afternoon. It was good to finally be done.

"So, how was today's space exploration, Commander Cheryl?" Colleen teased as she hung up her apron.

"Cut it out Colleen, I told you I haven't been sleeping well at home lately…"

"Aww I'm just messing with you, lighten up."

Cheryl sighed, "I wish I could…"

Frowning at the response Colleen asked, "Something wrong?"

"I'm not sure…but I've been having these weird dreams lately. They're about my father, and…he sounds like he's in pain. Wherever he is…"

"Cheryl…"

"Look, I know you still have trouble believing me about what happened four years ago. Sometimes I do to; but something bad is happening to him. I just know it."

"But he's dead; shouldn't he have, I don't know, crossed over or something?"

Cheryl shook her head, "That's the thing, I don't know that either. I've been doing some reading up on the subject of earthbound spirits. Sometimes they don't always cross over from this world to the next depending on how they died or if they didn't get to finish something while they were alive."

"You're worried that happened to you dad?"

Nodding, Cheryl stuffed her uniform into her work locker and shut the door, "What bothers me is…he sounds like he's suffering in my dreams. Spirits can't feel pain; at least they aren't supposed to be able to. So why is my father feeling that way?"

Colleen shrugged, not knowing the answer, "Come on let's go hang at my place. Try and take your mind off these bad dreams for a while, alright?"

"I don't know…"

"Its Pizza night," she coaxed.

Of the many things Cheryl had over come in her life: having to move towns, finding her father murdered, stepping into a nightmare-filled town full of every type of freak show imaginable, she still had yet to overcome the supremacy of the Italian dish.

"I surrender mighty overlord of tomato sauce and cheese filled crust," she droned, mock bowing in front of Colleen; resulting in hysterical laughter from the pair of them as the headed out of the restaurant.

Several hours of pizza, non-scary movies and gossip, the two girls passed out in Colleen's bed room at around 3:00 in the morning. It took only a few moments for Cheryl to fall out, and shortly there after, (around 3:15 am) begin to dream…

_When Cheryl opened her eyes she was in familiar, although unwelcome surroundings. Eyes filling with fear she realized she was in Lakeside Amusement Park and she groaned in dismay. Of all the places she could have ended up in the court of __Morpheus__ tonight, it had to be this damn amusement park. Although…something seemed a little different then when she had first set foot in this fucked up place. Those mascot suits of Robbie were missing. Heather chuckled nervously, wondering if they'd finally gotten up and started walking on their own…_

"_Enough daydreaming…get to the bottom of why you're here so you can wake up already," she said aloud to herself._

_The blonde took here first hesitant steps forward, her bare feet making a soft patting on the grated metal. She made a mental note to wear shoes next time she went to bed. Walking around in this place with no shoes was stupid and dangerous; there was no telling how much blood, rust, and who knew what else was caked on every single inch of Silent Hill._

_Frowning as she walked, Cheryl noticed there were no monsters. If there was one thing you could count on Silent Hill having it was monsters. Not that she was disappointed, but seeing nothing at all put her on edge. _They could be hiding, waiting to pounce…

_As if on cue, Cheryl caught sight of something looming in the distance. It was a little hard to see it through the rust colored fog but it looked vaguely like a person's silhouette. Face contorting into something akin to hesitancy; she debated about going over to the person. She mentally wrestled with herself for several moments before her feet developed a mind of their own, and pulled her closer. At a distance of about five feet away, Cheryl stopped and stood their quietly. At this distance she could make out the person a little better. Her heart clenched at who she saw before her feet propelled her foreword again. It was her father._

"_Dad?" she called to him, only to receive no answer. Puzzled, Cheryl walked a little closer to him, "Dad," she called again. Still he didn't respond to her. He only kept shuffling forward slightly, shoulders hunched over. He sounded like he was muttering something to himself._

"_My daughter…have you seen her? She's seven years old, short, black hair…"_

_Frustrated, the blonde walked over to him and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. He stopped at the gesture, and turned to face his daughter; at the sight, his eyes widened in horror at her. Harry backed away and drew with shaky hands, a gun from his pants pocket._

_Cheryl let off a frightened noise and backed up slightly, "Dad, it's me! It's Cheryl!"_

_Harry's eyes looked wild, fearful, "N-no…you can't be. My little Cheryl is only seven…"_

_Cheryl slowly walked toward her father, face calm but heart pounding heavily in her throat, "Dad, don't you remember me? Before…before what happened to you at the apartment?" Asked the blonde; her voice was trembling a little as she reached a hand up and placed it on her father's shaky hands._

_At her touch Harry lowered the gun, his eyes focusing on the girl in front of him. His memory was bleary, fragmented. _Cheryl, an adult? _Little bits came back to him. Not much, but enough. The gun clattered from his numb fingers and he embraced his adopted daughter tightly. Cheryl returned it with heavy sobs. It had been so long since she had hugged her father, she'd missed him so much. She had Douglas, but despite him having become like a father to her, Douglas could never replace the man whose arms she was in at that moment._

"_Dad…I've missed you. I-I've got so much to tell you…" she choked through her tears._

"_It's alright, you're-" Harry paused, remembering something else, "No, you can't stay here. It's too dangerous."_

"_What," Cheryl sniffed and looked up at him, "Dangerous? What are you talking about? This is just a dream. I've had ones like this before; one the day you died in fact. I think-"_

_Harry put a finger to her lips, "No Cheryl, it's not. You have to go now before something happens to you…I'm not sure what but…you have to go."_

"_Before something happens? What'll happen, it's just a dream Dad…why can't I stay and talk with you?"_

"_I told you why, now go! Leave and never come back!"_

"_But why?" she cried in distress._

"_Because-" The dark-haired man stopped when something stirred below the grating. Harry's eyes darted to the ground below him in time to see a face flash down there before a jet of fire shot up through the metal and engulfed him. Harry screamed in agony as the flames charred and blackened his skin. It peeled and blistered, and the sickly-sweet smell of cooked flesh filled the air._

_Cheryl screamed, and flinched back in horror at the sight. She wanted to look away but her eyes remained rooted to her father's burning, screaming face. He clawed at himself, trying to put out the flames to no avail. The blonde's hands short to her mouth in shock and disgust, muffling her screams. The world around her began to fade as Harry's body weakened and began to pitch foreword towards the ground; and through her final cries, Cheryl thought she heard a warbled voice call out from the flames._

"_Fire cleanses all!"_

"Cheryl! Cheryl, wake up!"

"_NO! _No…" Her eyes snapped open, "W-what," Cheryl sad up, body in a cold sweat, her body shaking.

"Jesus Christ, Cheryl what was that about? Thank God my parents didn't wake up. Why the hell are you screaming at this hour?"

"I-I…it was…" Cheryl felt her insides lurch uncomfortably and she made haste on unsteady legs to the bathroom to pay homage to the porcelain god. Colleen got to her feet and followed her blonde friend to the bathroom.

Colleen peeked in, saw Cheryl bent over the bowl retching, and closed the door slightly to give her some privacy. She looked over at the linen closet and removed a wash cloth from it and headed to the kitchen to wet it. She returned a minute or so later to find Cheryl kneeling on the bathroom floor a sobbing mess. Without a word, Colleen bent down next to her and handed the damp wash rag to the pale girl. Cheryl took it gratefully and wiped her entire face, savoring the coolness it brought. Moments passed in silence before Cheryl turned to her friend and finally spoke, "I saw my father…talked to him…"

A curious, albeit worried, look morphed onto Colleen's face, "What did he say to you?"

"He told me to leave and never come back…it's not like I'm intentionally going to that hell hole in my dreams. Then…then he…the fire…," she choked, feeling more bile rising in her throat but managed to keep it down, "He suddenly caught fire and…I saw him burning…oh God Colleen it was …"

Colleen shushed her and embraced the shaking girl in a warm hug. Cheryl returned it and said nothing, tears quietly trailing down her cheeks. Vaguely, in the morning hours to come, Cheryl remembered being led back to Colleen's bed room before entering into a dark, dreamless sleep. It would be several more hours before she would awaken once more.


End file.
